Winterization of my 18.5 Sports

W

wengerda

New Member
Aug 24, 2010
25
Port Tobacco, MD
Boat Info
185 Sport
Engines
4.3L
Hi everyone. I am new to the forum and have a few questions. Purchased late in the Season a new 2010 Sea Ray 18.5 Sport. Now I have over 10 hours on the motor. Is time soon to have the boat winterized. My question is the manufactury manual requires to change the fluids between 20-25 hours. I wont have that many hours on the motor. What is the recommendations to winterized the boat and change fluids? Should I have the boat winterized but dont change the fluids until I have the 20-25 hours next Spring? Also I have a on/off switch for my battery and the boat will be stored inside a non-heated indoor boatel. Should I still remove the battery for winter from the boat or keep it with the switch off? Finally can you provide me with a necessary items I should ensure that the service technician does to winterize my new boat? I know I need to have a full tank of gas, they will put Stabilizer on it, what else they should do. thank you for all your information.
 
Last edited:
The new engine will have assembly lubes, maybe extra additives, and like any new engine, it may have other debris from the initial breakin. The 20 hour service is to change out those lubes.
I purchased my boat late last fall and was in the same spot you are. I'd go out to burn fuel and rip around the lake just to get it near that 20 hour mark. Then changed everything out while winterizing.
As for what to winterize, the list is quite long; fuel, fluids, drain water, add antifreeze, fog engine, to name a few. But if you are bringing it in to a shop, I'm sure they know the deal. Actually I found a lot of this info in my manual that came with the boat.
I would leave the battery in the boat. Just make sure it's fully charged and turn the switch off.
 
The manual is a good place to start, also a good mechanic. I don't know the answer to your questions about changing the fluids after 10 hours, but you clearly need to pull the battery and flush all water out of the engine.
 
The manual is a good place to start, also a good mechanic. I don't know the answer to your questions about changing the fluids after 10 hours, but you clearly need to pull the battery and flush all water out of the engine. Note that I'm assuming it will be stored where it will be exposed to freezing temperatures.
 
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